RVMS knowledge bowl team has successful season

After successfully competing during the regular season, the RVMS Knowledge bowl team headed into the sub-regional contest ready to demonstrate what they knew.

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By Troy KrauseEditor

Redwood Falls Gazette

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Feb. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Feb. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

After successfully competing during the regular season, the RVMS Knowledge bowl team headed into the sub-regional contest ready to demonstrate what they knew.

The team, made up of six members, including Madisen Clennon, Gage Rohne, Halle Runck, Nathaniel Passe, CJ Theis and Becky Vang competed in early January for a chance to qualify for the Regional contest.

A total of 55 teams from across the region competed at the sub-regional event held at SMSU in Marshall.

Members of the team talked about their day, and said at that level the questions got harder and the competition more challenging.

After all, when it came to the sub-regional contest it was either do well or your season was over.

The meets the RVMS team competed in during the season, including those at Murray County Central, Wabasso and in Marshall helped prepare the team for the contest, and in the end the team did pretty well at sub-regions.

“We were in the running for first for quite a while,” said Passe.

One bad round, said Theis dropped them out of contention, but the team still finished in the top 10 – good enough to qualify for the regional contest.

With 87 points and a ninth place finish, the RVMS team headed into the regional competition against 51 other teams who had also qualified.

A total of 25 teams each from two sub-regional contests took part in the regional contest, also held in Marshall at SMSU.

During the season, the teams competed at invitationals that included oral rounds, but according to Theis the regional contest included four oral rounds of 45 questions each, as well as a written round.

The written round is a team event, too, said Clennon, who added the RVMS team did OK in the written round.

Students in Grades 7-9 are able to compete in junior high knowledge bowl.

The RVMS team did not have any freshmen on its team, which put it at a disadvantage with other teams who did, as those older students competed with added contest experience.

Questions posed during the written and oral rounds at a knowledge bowl meet question the problem solving and critical thinking skills of those participating, with subjects, such as American history, world history, government, current events, economics, law, geography, literature, English, math, physical science, earth science, health, art, music and general knowledge of Minnesota.

The RVMS team knew it was up against strong competition when it saw teams coming in with uniforms, but it did not let that intimidate them. In the end, the team scored 86 points at the regional contest, which was good enough to place in the top 20.

There are up to five team members who can compete in a round, and with six team members competing for RVMS, there were times when they would switch, said Runck.

Page 2 of 2 - The RVMS team felt it had a successful season, and with no state contest held for junior high knowledge bowl, the team can say it qualified for the top contest in their activity. The knowledge bowl program is sponsored by the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperatives student activities program.

Members of the RVMS said they enjoy the Know-ledge Bowl activity and said they plan on participating again next year.